Christie slaps Perry over Jeffress Mormon comments

Chris Christie told reporters in New Hampshire that the Rick Perry campaign showed itself to be "beneath the office of president of the United States" by associating with a Texas pastor who criticized Mitt Romney's religion.

Christie's remarks came during a Hanover press conference where the New Jersey governor announced his endorsement of Romney.

Story Continued Below

"These type of religious matters have nothing to do with the quality of somebody's ability to lead," Christie said. "Any campaign that associates itself with that type of conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States."

Romney piled on, giving his strongest comments yet on Robert Jeffress's description of Mormonism as a "cult."

"I would call upon Gov. Perry to repudiate the sentiment and the remarks," Romney said, alleging that Perry had "selected" Jeffress to introduce him at the Values Voter Summit on Friday.

That's not quite right: As POLITICO reported Friday, the Family Research Council selected Jeffress for the speaking slot and the Perry campaign signed off.

But the newly forceful pushback from Romney and his endorser shows that the former Massachusetts governor is increasingly comfortable raising the stakes in the debate over his faith. The bet here is that Perry will suffer more, because one of his supporters attacked Mormonism, than Romney will for simply being Mormon.

Christie also covered for Romney on the issue of the Massachusetts health care law, calling it "completely intellectually dishonest" for anyone to compare Romney's health care overhaul with the Affordable Care Act.